50 replies to this topic

[Mark_Hazard]

In Thunderball, the highway where Count Lippe gets blown up is actually a racetrack. Another case of England substituting for, well, uh, England.

Silverstone to be precise.

[RufusCobb]

And yes to Amberley Chalk Pit- I went there about ten years ago and the Zorin mine carts were still in some undergrowth. Plus there's a sign saying 'main strike mine' over the mine entrance

That's amazing!

I remember back when they were filming AVTAK and I was watching BBC sport one afternoon. (I think it was the racing but that's not important) and between races the announcer was waffling away and he suddenly went, 'Ooh look at that!' The camera swung around and you could see the Zorin balloon with the stuntman hanging off the nose rope. It was obviously the filming of the sequence where the balloon lifts off from the 'Zorin mine' location, with Bond hanging on. The announcer said that it was from the next Bond movie.

Another thing, I listen to the commentaries on the DVD's quite often and I'm sure that RAF Northolt outside London doubles for lots of airport scenes in Bond movies. I'm sure Sir Rog said the Cuban airbase was filmed there and I thought that I'd heard that the Goldfinger scenes were filmed there also.

[RufusCobb]

England for England

I was once married to the daughter of a vicar, who at one time was the vicar of Stoke Poges church. I was showing his wife, my mother-in-law at the time, For Your Eyes Only and at the opening sequence where Sir Rog is laying flowers at Tracy's grave, the mother-in-law exclaimed, 'That's Stoke Poges church! I recognise the (thing)' (I can't remember what it is called ... the roof over the gate.)
Stoke Poges is just down the road from Pinewood and apparently is used quite often in films and TV when they need a church.

And also in AVTAK, the fight in the factory where the heavy gets put in the box and the machine binds it with plastic tape, was filmed at the Honda factory at Swindon. I remember it being in the news at the time.

Edited by RufusCobb, 23 June 2009 - 08:43 PM.

[Shaun Forever]

Excellent stuff!


I'm tempted to visit some of these locations, anyone know if anything was ever filmed in the Dorset area?

[DaveBond21]

Excellent stuff!


I'm tempted to visit some of these locations, anyone know if anything was ever filmed in the Dorset area?

Not sure. Where was the motorbike scene filmed in Thunderball?

[Forward Look]

Excellent stuff!


I'm tempted to visit some of these locations, anyone know if anything was ever filmed in the Dorset area?

Not sure. Where was the motorbike scene filmed in Thunderball?

Silverstone racetrack, substituting as a highway in 1965.

[DaveBond21]

Excellent stuff!


I'm tempted to visit some of these locations, anyone know if anything was ever filmed in the Dorset area?

Not sure. Where was the motorbike scene filmed in Thunderball?

Silverstone racetrack, substituting as a highway in 1965.

Thanks.

I should have realised you have already mentioned that.

[Forward Look]

In AVTAK, the fight between Bond/Tibbett and two of Zorin's thugs was staged in an auto factory in Swindon, according to Patrick Macnee's commentary on my SE-DVD. To me, it still looks like a studio in the actual fight sequence, but when the boxed-up bodies of the two thugs on the conveyor line are discovered, the location switches to an assembly plant setting, which would seem to make sense.

[Guy Haines]

More military than exotic - Upper Heyford, the former air base in Oxfordshire which was used as the USAF base at Feldstadt, West Germany in "Octopussy". At the time of filming, it was a functioning USAF station in the UK, as I recall.

[trs007]

A few additions:

FRWL: The gypsy camp was on the backlot at Pinewood.

Goldfinger: Miami portrays Kentucky, as does the UK. (The KFC where Felix is seen was in Miami, as was the Auto scrapyard). Fort Knox was build at Pinewood.

LALD: Jamaica portrayed San Monique

MWTGG Thailand portrayed the Red Chinese Islands.

Moonraker: France portrayed California.

Octopussy and Goldeneye: The Nene Valley RR portrayed the German border and also Russia.

Goldeneye: Switzerland portrayed Russia.

TWINE: The Devil's Breath scene was filmed at Pinewood.

DAD: HAwaii's surf portrayed Korea, and once landed, so did Wales.

[Guy Haines]

I don't know if Great Britain's military victories were really won on "the playing fields of Eton" - but the school's cricket pitch and pavilion provided Daniel Craig's Bond with the backdrop to his first "kill" in CR. If you have seen the deleted scenes on the "ultimate edition" DVD, you will know that Bond locates Dryden's foreign contact at a cricket match in Pakistan, chases after him, and finally beats the living daylights out of him in the mens room.

For "Islamabad, Pakistan", read Bond's old school. Who'd have thought it?

[Qboat]

I don't know if Great Britain's military victories were really won on "the playing fields of Eton" - but the school's cricket pitch and pavilion provided Daniel Craig's Bond with the backdrop to his first "kill" in CR. If you have seen the deleted scenes on the "ultimate edition" DVD, you will know that Bond locates Dryden's foreign contact at a cricket match in Pakistan, chases after him, and finally beats the living daylights out of him in the mens room.

For "Islamabad, Pakistan", read Bond's old school. Who'd have thought it?

I dunno whether to feel cheated or look forward to Bond 23, hope to get in and see some action

[DaveBond21]

I don't know if Great Britain's military victories were really won on "the playing fields of Eton" - but the school's cricket pitch and pavilion provided Daniel Craig's Bond with the backdrop to his first "kill" in CR. If you have seen the deleted scenes on the "ultimate edition" DVD, you will know that Bond locates Dryden's foreign contact at a cricket match in Pakistan, chases after him, and finally beats the living daylights out of him in the mens room.

For "Islamabad, Pakistan", read Bond's old school. Who'd have thought it?

Good point.

[Lord Sinclair]

There is a great new blog covering some of these locations. Not just London, but I suppose much more is to come!

http://jamesbondloca...s.blogspot.com/

[Lord Sinclair]

[quote name='DaveBond21' timestamp='1216254382' post='892627']
Here are some scenes from the Bond movies, where England doubles as a more exotic location. Can anyone think of any more? Which ones look the most realistic?


The Langham Hotel in London doubled for the Grand hotel Europe in S:t Petersburg - GoldenEye.
The courtyard of Somerset House doubled for a square in S:t Petersburg.

http://jamesbondloca...s.blogspot.com/

[DaveBond21]

The Langham Hotel in London doubled for the Grand hotel Europe in S:t Petersburg - GoldenEye.
The courtyard of Somerset House doubled for a square in S:t Petersburg.

I didn't know about the Langham Hotel. Thanks for that one.

[DaveBond21]

In Skyfall, many scenes were not filmed on location in Shanghai. Instead, the Virgin Active Pool in London's Canary Wharf acted as Bond's hotel pool in Shanghai, and the entrance to Broadgate Tower was also lit up to look like an office building there; for the aerial footage of Shanghai, the crew received rare access to shoot from a helicopter on loan from the Chinese government.

[Vauxhall]

Also in SKYFALL, the apparent interior of Shanghai's airport is actually Ascot Racecourse.

[seawolfnyy]

More from Skyfall as the floating Dragon Casino in Macau was nothing more than a set at Pinewood Studios.

[JCRendle]

More from Skyfall as the floating Dragon Casino in Macau was nothing more than a set at Pinewood Studios.

 

And very convincing it was too

[DaveBond21]

Yes that was a good one.